Plymouth Yarn

I’ve had a very productive weekend. Friday evening I started a sweater for GrandDolly called Girls Cap Sleeved Spring Top. I have had this yarn forever, it seems like, and didn’t know what I would make with it. Then I found this great sweater tutorial. (The pattern is here at Soulful Hues Hobbies & Random Thoughts.) I finished it tonight, blocked it and can’t wait to put it on GrandDolly tomorrow. Check this out!!

And this is the finished sweater on GrandDolly — loves to have her picture taken with her Pepe. When I put the sweater on her, she kept saying “Meme, for me??” like I’d never given her anything before!! Poor deprived GrandDolly!

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I actually made three pairs of itty bitty socks in this yarn — one for my grand nephew, one for my daughter’s nephew, and one for my daughter’s still unborn nephew. Just couldn’t see taking pics of three pairs of socks that look essentially the same. The yarn I used was Encore Colorspun Worsted in colorway #7518. I try other yarns, but always seem to come back to Plymouth Yarns. The worsted weight yarn is much easier on my hands. (Yeah, I know, wah wah wah about my hands.) The pattern is a little cute one that I found on line, North Country Cotton Baby Socks except that I used acrylic and wool instead of cotton, and I used circular needles instead of DP’s. Other than that, it’s identical!!

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I’ve had two balls of this yarn for at least 4 months and have been periodically looking for just the right stitch to make a scarf out of it. Not being able to find a stitch that jumped up and said “here I am!!”, I decided that a plain old K3 P3 rib with size 9 Addi circs would be just fine and now I really like the look of it. The yarn is Baby Alpaca Grande from Plymouth Yarn (100 grams, 110 yards) and I don’t think I’ve ever felt a more soft hand in any yarn. (The Baby Alpaca Grande Paint in all the different colorways is positively mouth watering!!) I’ve knitted about 9 inches and I’m about halfway through the first ball — I really luff long scarfies — so I trotted down to my LYS and picked up another ball to be on the safe side. (Any reason is a good reason to go down to Woolworks) And of course, the dye lot is not the same as the original, but I’ve looked at the three of them in all kinds of light and I really can’t see a huge (if any) difference. This is my “watch TV and knit” project for now. Once I get Sissy’s second sock done, I’ll spend more time on it.

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I’m really getting into this knitting socks on circular needles. The hardest part of knitting for me on any kind of knitting needles (and this has always been a problem) is that I am a horrendously tight knitter. I have to constantly remind myself to loosen it up. And these are no different — they should wear like iron. I’m about 1/2 done the first sock — more pics when I get more done.

The pattern (Simple Sock in Three Sizes) is from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles by Cat Bordhi. I like the part in it that says you could make only this sock for the rest of your life just changing the yarn weight and type of yarn. A great book that is worth every penny.

Isn’t this yarn yummy? It’s Galway Paint from Plymouth Yarn. The colorway is #808. I just love a worsted weight yarn!

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Sweet Baboo’s job keeps him out in the nasty winter weather much more than I would like (snow plowing!! Blech!!) so I searched the internet until I found this pattern on this fabulous blog, I Live on a Farm. (There is also a pattern for the matching scarf along with lots of other great goodies.) The hat that she knitted used called Suri Merino Luxury Indecita Blend from Plymouth Yarn Co. It is 55% Suri Alpaca and 45% Extrafine Merino Wool in color number 402, which is a charcoal grey color. A very nice yarn to be sure, but I kept going back to another yarn by Berroco in 100% Extra Fine Merino. I would just go into my LYS and stand there and fondle stroke admire the hand on that yarn. This blue color just blew me away. It was also my first solo with circular needles. A girl could go broke easily just buying needles!! Just when I thought that I had found the DPN’s that I positively loved (KA bamboo) I find myself falling in love all over again with Prym circulars. Dear, oh dear, what’s a girl to do?

(Note to self: Remember to save what I’m writing if I decide that I need to go look at something else or I will risk wiping out the end of my article!! ARGH!!) 😦

Back to my story. The pattern is easy enough that even a novice like me can follow it and not screw it up too badly, although I did have to wing it once I got to the crown. My fingers were just too stiff to be able to manipulate the stitches down to the 7 that the pattern called for. I decided that if it looked too wretched that I would (gasp!! say it isn’t so!!!) sew a pompom or button on the top to cover it. I’m not sure how Sweet Baboo would feel about that but I guess I won’t need to worry because the top came out well enough. Because the author of I Live on a Farm made this for her son, the very last part of the pattern says “Hug the completed hat to your cheek and bless it with Motherly Love while thinking of the dear head the hat will keep warm. Well, that’s what I did anyway.” Okay, so it was Significant Otherly Love but I thought the sentiment was so sweet. Here’s a picture of the dear head and his new hat keeping him warm.